I Hate Her
by uwprincess
Summary: Bosco hates Faith. That's all there is to it. But could something he was never meant to see change his mind?
1. Default Chapter

"I hate her. Plain and simple I hate her and there is nothing she can do to make it up to me. I don't need her, I don't want her and she is nothing to me." Pause, drink, scoff.

"Ok, try again. I HATE her...she is a self-righteous hypocrite who doesn't even appreciate that I saved her LIFE! She cares only for advancing her career and lets her new gold shield go straight to her head!" Drink. Nod.

"They think I can't shoot? They think I can't hit that target and pass their little test? Well I can"…drink… "I CAN and I think I will show them right now".

He stumbles from his bar stool and throws down a fifty. "I think that outta cover me for tonight, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, night Mo, thanks for stopping by."

With a salute to no one in particular he is out the door and on the street, his face rebuffed by the frigid wind.

"I can shoot…Bang BANG!" He motions his hands into little guns as if her were five again. He aims at a trashcan, a taxi and a light. "Pow, it never even saw me coming!"

Bosco stumbled down the block slowly but deliberately. He could find his way to the precinct if he were blind, probably if he were dead, which he almost was a little less than a year ago.

"I am almost died for her" he thought, the irony of it striking him like a cruel joke. "I saw those gunmen, heard her cry and dove to cover her without a moments notice, without the slightest hesitation. I wonder if her betrayal of me came with the same ease, the same reflex motion."

It was with this righteous indignation, this holier-than-thou attitude that Bosco climbed the steps to the 55 and swung the doors open wide. The house was always so quite at this time of night. It was about 2:15, the rookie skels had already been busted and the true thugs don't come out until 3:00. Bosco saw the top of Lieu's head through the windows of roll call; he was surrounded by a few of the late shift cops. He assumed they were watching some tape of a local surveillance team or perhaps someone doing it with the captain's daughter in an RMP. Whatever it was they seemed glued to the screen.

He fumed his way up the stairs the entire time going over his planned speech in his head: "Boss, I know you want me out there and I want to be out there. Faith has NO IDEA what she is talking about and to prove it to you I will go take the test right now! I don't belong in lock-up and I certainly don't need the help of some ex-partner, ex-friend who seems to forget the indebtedness people are normally accustomed to giving to someone who saves their life!" He shook his head with enthusiasm at the little bit he'd just put together and congratulated himself for thinking on his feet. He planned to march to his locker and get out his gun as soon as he finished for dramatic effect.

But in the next few minuets Bosco did little marching. He reached the top of the stairs only to hear muffled cries coming from the t.v. screen. His line of vision was unobstructed as he took the extra second to focus on what waseveryone waswatching so intently.It was Faith, covered in blood and leaning over what looked like a hunk of butcher's meat. She was crying and screaming and administering CPR to the seemingly lifeless log laying beneath her. She looked so upset that Bosco almost lost it right there, his dinner, the whiskey, everything in his system simply at the sight of her hysteria.

"What happened tonight?" he thought in horror as he watched her pump up and down, up and down, and breathe for the bloody mess…"I have to get to her, I have to help her."

Then suddenly he knew. The tape before him was not from tonight, rather it was from a few months back, almost ten full months ago when he lay shot on the hospital room floor. From the angle of the tape it looked to be the security camera present in the waiting room corner. Bosco had seen the camera a million times, even reviewed tapes of it in theft or assault cases but it never occurred to him after that night.

"Oh my God" he said out loud but barely audible. Lieu turned his head just in time to see Bosco double over with his hands on his knees as he began retching on the floor. The Lieutenant jumped to his feet and rushed to remove the tape, but not before Bosco watched Faith drag his limp and lifeless body from the room with a bright red blood trail marking the path.

The next few minuets were a bit of a blur to Bosco. The boss had pushed him to the bench behind him, and he was given a cold towel to place over his face. Some rookie was cleaning his vomit as the Boss got right in his face. "Bosco, what the hell are you doing here? You were never supposed to see this!"

Bosco just shook his head and began to laugh. "See what?" he seethed, "See WHAT? That she saved my life?" He was screaming now as he started again: "All this time I have been on a high horse, been telling her she OWED me, that I was the hero in this story when all along she is the one…she is the one who breathed for me and kept my heart going when the others would have left me for dead? And no one told me?" he spoke again on the verge of tears: "No one told me."

It was a full minuet before he spoke again. "Did you see her face? Did you see her clothes? She was covered, COVERED in my blood. Why? Why would she do that?"

The Lieutenant stood stark still. "Bosco, she wanted you to make it, she needed you to make it".

Bosco looked up, tears filling his eyes as he slowly stood and brushed past the small crowd around him.

"Where are you going Bosco?" came the stern and gruff voice of his Boss.

"I gotta see her, I gotta…go". His whisper was again barely audible as Bosco was down the stairs and out the doors to greet the crisp air. No one moved to follow.

He took a deep breath and almost lost it one last time as he turned to his right and started jogging up the block. As he ran he replayed the images from the screen in his head. All he could hear was Faith's cries and whimpers, her shouts for help and the panic in her voice. He felt so awful, like such a jerk. "I shouldn't be surprised" he thought. "The most upset I have ever seen Faith in my life and not only am I notthere to help her but I am the CAUSE of her problem. Way to go Bosco, way to go." He bowed his head and seconds later his jog quickened and he was practically sprinting up the street to Faith's apartment in record speed.


	2. She thinks she knows what to do

Bosco arrived to her door at the exact moment that Faith returned to the precinct and saw the hushed crowed whispering at the top of the stairs. The vile smell of fresh vomit reached her nostrils and caused a moments hesitation as she approached the steps.

"Faith", the Lieutenant abruptly called from his office, causing a slight parting in the sea of people who now seemed to be starring at Faith.

"Oh God, what did I do?" she thought, "What happened now?" Faith was tired and really ready to go home. She had been pretty productive today, turning up the surviving victim in the morning's homicide and obtaining the warrant to search the church. There was a lot going on but as she replayed the day's events and conversations in her head she felt this could only be about one thing: Bosco.

"Yeah, Lieu?" Faith stood with her hands in her pockets and gave a slight nod to her Boss. "What's going on?" The look he gave her scared her slightly. This wasn't just exhaustion from the day, or even exasperation because of someone in his unit, this was something else, something bad.

"What it is?" Faith couldn't help but let the anticipation fill her voice.

"Maybe you should sit down" he began,

"No, Lieu, whatever it is you tell me now, tell me right here." Faith squared her shoulders and pointed to the ground emphasizing her point.

"Faith we were reviewing some tapes that have to do with Bosco's shooting." He seemed eager to just get this out in the open, get it over with.

"What shooting, the Monroe shooting? I didn't know there was tape." Faith's voice was filled with eagerness and alarm, she wanted nothing more than to clear Bosco, but at the same time she felt any tape might only serve to further complicate things. In short, Faith didn't know how to react.

"No, not that shooting, HIS shooting." His voice was low, he seemed to be acting somewhat ashamed.

"What? What for?" Faith was confused and overwhelmed as his words immediately brought her back to the events of that night, the emotions of that night.

"We wanted to see if there was anything we could pick out from the angles of the shots, the initial impact that would support an injury to his eyes…we were trying to play medical investigators."

Nowhe sounded really ashamed. Faith had known there was a tape, she hadn't known it was in the building of the 55. She hadn't known it was for public consumption. In anger she barked at the at Lieutenant :

"Well, he practically got his FACE blown off, I think that'd be enough to cause and eye injury! Did everyone fail to notice the rather large SCAR he has on his cheek? Did that fail to go noticed in your little 'medical investigation'? Huh?"

Faith was so angry that she crossed the room and was now inches from the Lieutenant's face. She suddenly realized just where she was and with whom she was talking and her posture became a little less belligerent.

No one spoke for several beats as Faith just blinked wide-eyed at her Boss. She was still mad as hell and still intended to tell him, she just thought she should be a little more respectful.

"So why you telling me?" She asked. "Are you confessing? Asking me forgiveness for remembering and watching those horrible things? Those CRIMES committed by a monster and what he almost took from us?"

"No." The Liutenant's voice was still low.

"Excuse Me?" Faith asked, confused by his answer.

"No, I am not confessing that I watched the tapes, I am confessing that while I was watching Bosco came in."

Faith's complexion went white as she realized the effect of this catastrophe. She backed away from her Boss who continued with his confession while she shook her head in disgust and backed into a chair.

"Faith, he came up the stairs and was standing in the hall. I had noway of knowing he was coming back for the day. He took one look at the screen and vomited all over the floor." Faith suddenly remembered the scent she was greeted with upon entering the station.

"Where is he now?" She asked, suddenly alert to what she has to do.

"He left, he said he had to find you."

"Ok then, Boss, I am leaving, thank you for the information". After her outburst Faith was overcompensating with civility for this man.

"Faith, I am so sorry." He seemed truly repentant and Faith just nodded and let herself out of his office door. She was down the steps and on the street seconds later.


	3. Bosco being Bosco

Bosco's stomach sunk with fear as he approached the familiar front door of Faith's apartment. The signs of a break-in were immediately evident to his trained eye; the screwdriver indents to the left of the dead bolt were obvious to anyone looking and as he tried the knob he could tell it had been jimmied. He immediately reached for his off-duty gun located in an ankle holster on his right leg and slowly opened the front door.

The apartment was dark and the dim hallway light was enough to cast a dim glow across the floor of the apartment. Bosco stepped over the chain that had been cut from the top of the doorframe and proceeded down the hall towards the room that Emily and Charlie used to share. He could hear angry whispers coming from inside.

Bosco was overwhelmed. He moved from the right-hand side of the hallway to place his back against the wall opposite Emily's bedroom door. "This can't be happening, he thought. Just breath." Bosco sidestepped until he was almost to the doorway, the bathroom was to his immediate right. He steadied himself with one last deep breath and just than the unmistakable sound of a flushed toilet filled the air as the bathroom door swung wide and no other than Dante the jag off emerged.

"Let us feast my Brethren!" He all but sang as he stepped out with both arms extended in the air from his sides. Bosco made his move. Grabbing Dante from behind he secured both his arms and held his pistol to the young man's neck. Moving with lightening speed he pushed the boy forward while shouting for Emily.

"Emily, are you okay? Where are you? Speak to me".

He had already pushed Dante into the room and turned on the light in a matter of mere seconds. He surveyed the scene carefully. Emily was lying on her bed, her right arm dangling over the side and secured by a tourniquet at the top. A young boy was leaning over her while a girl sat on her bed pinning down her shoulders. There was another guy standing near the closet, he looked slightly less goth than the rest, and more than a little afraid.

"What the hell?" This coming from the genius by Emily.

"What the hell is right!" Bosco all but screamed. "Now you two get over there." He motioned with his gun for them to move by the boy near the closet. Both of the teens looked to Dante before Bosco spoke again, "Don't look at him, he isn't the one in charge here. I AM! Now get up and MOVE!" He was still shouting angrily and the teens moved quickly away from Emily, who seemed to be more than a little out of it.

"What's wrong with her?" he spat into the back of Dante's neck.

"We have to complete the ceremony, she wants to be bled."

His voice was even creepier than Bosco remembered. "Shut-up!" He said to his hostage, turning towards the others. "Did you drug her? Is she on something?" The two who had been near Emily; the two "preparing" her said nothing. Bosco was beginning to panic slightly at the sight of Faith's daughter sprawled on her bed. It was too familiar to past events and Bosco had not liked the effect those had had on her mother. "You guys better speak up or he will get it I swear!" At this the youngest in the group, the most uncomfortable by far spoke up:

"It was just a little Ambien, I stole it from my mom's house."

"Silence Tigre." Dante shouted all too suddenly, catching Bosco off guard.

"My name's not Tigre it's Tyler and he's got a gun to your neck David".

"My names is Dante and you will pay for you stupidity."

During this lovers feud Bosco has moved to the phone in Emily's room and was already speaking to someone at dispatch. "Yes, we need police and a bus forthwith at this location." He finishes the call and pulls his cuffs from his back pocket. He looks around and finally tells Dante, "Bend over."

He moves him the end of the bed and cuffs the boy's ankle to his wrist. Turning, he barks: "You three, sit down on the ground, No TALKING". Feeling that he has the situation contained Bosco attentively turns to Emily. "Em, Em wake up honey." He gently pats her cheek and strokes her forehead. "Em, talk to me, it's me Bosco, I'm here". He rips off the tourniquet and places her arm beside her on the bed. "Emily, wake up".

Not two seconds later Carlos and Levine are standing in the doorway. "What happened?" concern was evident in Carlos's voice, he recognized Emily from over the years.

"She's been drugged, Ambien," was all Bosco could manage. "I don't think she's been cut, but you should check."

Suddenly Carlos's eyes grew wide as he spotted Dante at the end of the bed. "Yeah, we will" he assured Bosco. Holly was busy saying "Hi" to the three others in the room when Carlos asked her for the bag. Just as Bosco took a step back from the bed and took a deep breathe of relief the older of the two guys lept to his feet and darted out the door. Bosco was torn between chasing the teen and protecting the medics, he knew he had to stay put. Luckily right at that moment the husky John Sullivan was working a double shift and responding to the call from a fellow officer in trouble. The boy ran smack into his bulletproof vest and fell back into the hallway.

"Evening Bosco, you alright?" Sully started as he picked up the perp and threw him back in the room.

"Yeah, I think I'll be ok Can you cuff these guys?"

"My pleasure" came Sully's gruff response. "That's Emily right?" he asked, fearful of the answer.

"Yeah" Bosco responded, running his hands through his hair. "How am I gonna tell Faith?"

"You won't have too." Sully stated, "When your call came in Faith had just left the precinct, and the Boss went to pick her up and bring her over. She should be downstairs any minute."

At this point Carlos and Holly were taking Emily out on a stretcher. Sully had cuffed two of the three remaining youth and Bosco offered to take them down, worried what he might do if left alone with Dante. However, two other cops came down the hall to assist Sully leaving him free to follow Emily downstairs. Bosco could see a sea of lights out the apartment window.

The night was getting colder and Bosco was worried when Emily didn't seem to respond to the cool air. She was wheeled across the street and into a bus right as Lieu's marked RMP pulled onto the scene. The passenger side door was open before the car even stopped. Faith, her face labored with obvious panic and fatigue ran towards Bosco. "Where…is…she…?" she cried as she fell into the arms of her ex-partner, her best friend.

"She's in the bus". Bosco answered, placing his hand on the back of Faith's head and swaying gently to try and soothe her. "She's gonna be just fine", he whispered, "just fine."

Faith was gasping for breathes between sobs and Bosco realized this was the second time he'd seen her this way tonight. The first was on the tape, the second was almost too much for him to handle. She gently pulled back and started walking towards the bus. Bosco stayed close behind and she reached back to take his hand.

Emily's color had improved remarkably and she looked to be taking a peaceful nap. Carlos looked to Faith and spoke with firm compassion, "She is going to be absolutely fine, no physical problems whatsoever."

Faith covered her mouth and said "Thank you, thank you so much". She reached into the bus and clasped Emily's hand.

"We are gonna get going in just a few secs, of course you can ride along." Carlos said has he walked towards the front of the bus.

Faith slowly let go of her daughter's hand. She turned to face Bosco and really look at him for the first time since she got there. "Bosco," she began "There is really nothing I can say to tell you how grateful I am for what you have done for me tonight. I will owe you for the rest of my life for keeping my daughter safe. Thank you for being where I needed you to be precisely when I needed you to be there."

"I think I could say likewise" Bosco said with a nod and the intense stare that only he can give. "I am here for you, I want to always be here for you."

His words brought her back to another time; a moment earlier in their lives when Bosco had spoken these words with only one variation. This time it sounded more like a question. "I **_want_** to always be here for you". He knew that he had pulled a lot of crap, but you know what, so had she. Faith climbed up in the ambulance and looked down at Bosco standing on the ground below.

"Yes" she smiled, closing the first door. "You should do that." She slammed the other door shut as Bosco gave her a grin that she hadn't seen in far too long. "I didn't think I would ever say this, but thank God that tonight Bosco was Bosco", she thought to herself, "I don't know what I would do without him."

He thudded twice on the back of the bus with his open palm and turned to shout with pride: "Hey, I need a lift to Mercy, I got someone there who needs me".


End file.
